Status quo or got to go? What the Maldives’ allies want from the election
There are seven countries with embassies in the Maldives. What do they want from the presidential election?
29 Aug 2018, 9:00 AM
Omkar Khandekar
On 20 January 2014, months after taking office, President Abdulla Yameen unveiled his foreign policy. He underlined the importance of peace, dialogue, adherence to international laws and said his main objective was to “increase opportunities for economic advancement” for the Maldives.
Since then the country has forged close ties with China, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, much to the chagrin of its traditional allies: India, friendly Western states and the European Union.
With less than a month to go before a presidential election, the Maldives Independent sought to assess the equation the country shares with the seven of its closest allies with an embassy in the capital.
The Maldives Independent also interviewed Sathiya Moorthy, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think-tank in India, to ask what electoral outcome these countries want: status quo or a transfer of power.
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